USA BRANCH
Greenkeepers USA was created out of the idea of turning a small, environmental club in China into an international organization dedicated to spreading sustainable practices worldwide. Since its inception in 2014, Greenkeepers USA has built an impactful following in the Bay Area, completing dozens of projects to benefit diverse communities. Follow us on our journey of social responsibility, innovation, and coffee shop meetings as we continue building a green future.
2024-25 CORE leaders
Evelyn zhao (president)
sneha narayan (engineering)
RAJORSHI CHATTERJEE
(Engineering)
Hi! I’m Evelyn, a twelfth grader at Mission San Jose High School, and I’m the president of Greenkeepers! My interests lie in raising awareness about environmental issues and making an impact through community-based projects especially focused on local issues. I’m also interested in how we can use technology to tackle environmental issues.
Hi! I’m Sneha, a senior at Mission San Jose High School, and a core leader for the engineering team. I love traveling, nature, and animals, and have seen the impact climate change has had on our environment. I am interested in using technology to help fight climate related disasters. Through my work at Greenkeepers, I aim to create a positive impact through community based projects, such as cleaning up our nearby lake. Some of my other hobbies include robotics, graphic design, and playing the piano!
I’m Rajorshi Chatterjee, and I joined Greekeepers in 2021 after quarantine during my freshman year. As a core leader of the engineering team, I am passionate about environmental science and justice, particularly in policy and law. Through my work at Greenkeepers, I aim to improve Fremont’s environmental footprint and help our communities live more sustainably. In my spare time, I enjoy juggling and reading self-help books. I am excited to help Greenkeepers positively impact our city through my work on the engineering team!
hannah yuan
(social media)
RITIKA MHATRE
(Events and research)
Hi! I'm Hannah, a senior at Mission San Jose High School and a media core leader for Greenkeepers. In the future I hope to pursue a career in environmental sciences to tackle environmental justice issues. I love music, discovering new k-drama, and drawing in my free time. I'm excited for all the fun events Greenkeepers has in store for a more sustainable community!! 🍀
Hi! I’m Ritika and I’m the core leader for the Events and Research team. I joined Greenkeepers in my sophomore year because I have always been deeply passionate about environmental issues and the need for sustainable practices. In my free time I enjoy dancing, playing music, and writing. As the head of the Events and Research team, I am eager to plan new initiatives for Greenkeepers and further involve the community!
current projects
For the 2024-25 season, we have three dedicated project groups: engineering, social media, and events/research. Welcome to the future.
mudball research
Following the recent fish die-offs at Lake Elizabeth, Greenkeepers has been meeting with the park rangers to learn more about the conditions that led to this event and future plans to prevent such events in the future. We are working with the rangers to research implementing mudballs in Lake Elizabeth to improve the water quality of the lake. The massive fish die-off (of over 1,000 fish) was due to the dissolved oxygen levels in the lake reaching a harmful low following a week-long heatwave. Mudballs can be used to boost the water quality of the lake over time. Currently, we are researching the results of similar mudball projects in other areas and the cost & materials required for implementing a similar project in Lake Elizabeth.
Pictured left to right: Rajorshi Chatterjee, Evelyn Zhao, Ranger Jeremy, Hannah Yuan, Sneha Narayan
LEAVE NO TRACE CAMPAIGN + CLEAN-UPS
In collaboration with Lake Elizabeth's No Trace Campaign, we are designing education flyers and brochures meant to encourage park visitors to act more sustainably to protect the lake's health. These posters motivate visitors to reduce their reliance on single use plastics, recommends compostable products, and reminds visitors to clean up after themselves. We have also collected over 200 pounds of trash in park cleanups.
Pictured left to right: Rajorshi Chatterjee, Hannah Yuan, Evelyn Zhao, Sneha Narayan, Jessica Diao, Renu Mandala, Bhavi Thirumalesh
Trash Classifier
The Greenkeepers Engineering team is working to develop an app that uses Machine Learning to classify different types of trash (recycle, landfill, compost). We got this idea during one Lake Elizabeth park cleanup when we noticed it was difficult to accurately classify trash to put in the appropriate bin.
Sustainability futures panel
Greenkeepers hosted the Sustainability Futures Panel, featuring an esteemed lineup of experts: Kaylee Wei, a Caltech engineer and environmentalist; Aleyn McAuley, Fremont’s Sustainability Manager; Gaetano Palazzo, a paleontologist with the Math Science Nucleus; and Meghana Karumuri, an Environmental Science and Policy specialist at Michigan State.
With an audience of around 40 engaged students, the panel explored how environmental science intersects with various career paths, offering insights on sustainability's growing role in engineering, policy, and research.
Tree Planting
As the impacts of COVID-19 continue to impact our communities, Greenkeepers are working to ameliorate the effects of both the pandemic and climate change, through our "Life for a Life" COVID-19 memorial tree planting that we started in 2020.
Learn more about this initiative here.
tule transplanting
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With recent fish die-offs impacting our community, we aim to set an example by transplanting tule on a barren island. Our project investigates how various levels of tule growth influence water quality. Currently, Ritika and Evelyn are preparing tule plugs for transplantation.
Hackathon
Our engineering team, in collaboration with Hack Club, organized an exceptional hackathon event called HackBackBetter. This two-day event, held at the prestigious Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, aimed to introduce middle and high school students to the exciting world of software development. During the event, we had the opportunity to present our organization, Greenkeepers, and shed light on our impactful initiatives. We also talked about how the power of artificial intelligence can play a crucial role in addressing global challenges. Through our presentation, we showcased the ways in which AI can revolutionize the fight against climate change, from optimizing energy usage to developing innovative solutions for sustainable practices.
learn more
Check out some posts from our socials to meet
the entire team and get a sense of our projects!
